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Today, the weather in Berlin is exceptionally beautiful, with bright sunshine, clear skies, and a gentle breeze brushing against the faces of passersby, as if urging them to keep pace with the arrival of spring.
“Beep! Beep! Beep! Tap tap tap!”
Otto Strasser is leisurely humming a tune while awkwardly dancing down the street. He has taken a break for a few days and has returned to Berlin from the Ruhr to visit his brother.
"Hey! I'm back! Did you miss me?"
Otto took out the key, unlocked the door, pushed it open with force, and then walked into the living room excitedly.
"Hey? Where is everyone?"
Looking at the empty living room, Otto felt a bit puzzled.
"Oh, I get it! My brother must be on break too, so he's sleeping in."
Otto decided to give his brother a surprise. He tiptoed up to the second floor and walked quietly toward Strasser's bedroom.
He was pasted to the door, just about to turn the doorknob and enter when suddenly an attack occurred. Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the room. "Mr. Gregor, be gentle! It will break," a shy female voice came through the door. Otto immediately widened his eyes and quickly pasted himself to the door, carefully listening to the movements inside the room.
"Ah? Is that so?" Strasser was a bit confused, holding the violin string and unsure of what to do. He was not completely lost when it came to the violin, but he certainly didn't understand it well; Bettina's method was beyond him. He only knew how to rely on sheer force to make things happen.
"Come on, I've told you several times already, that's not how you play it. Let me help you."
Bettina couldn't stand it any longer. She wanted to walk over and teach Strasser how to play the violin step by step, but unexpectedly, she tripped over the carpet in the room.
In her panic, Bettina flailed her arms in the air, trying to grab onto something to maintain her balance. In the end, she did manage to grab onto something—it was Strasser's right hand, which was holding the bow.
Under normal circumstances, a woman wouldn't be able to topple an adult man, but at that moment, Strasser was lost in thought and caught off guard, causing him to fall down with Bettina.
Outside the door, Otto heard Bettina's loud exclamation, followed by the sound of two heavy objects falling onto the floorboards.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Gregor. This is my first time teaching you to do something like this," Bettina said, feeling guilty enough to use formal language.
"It's okay, everyone has a first time. I completely understand you," Strasser reassured her.
"Are they really doing that?" Otto thought, feeling a storm of emotions rise within him. He had never noticed that his brother had gotten close to the maid in their household.
"By the way, is this broken?" Strasser asked, looking at the violin bow that was snapped in two under Bettina.
"Seems like it's broken, doesn't it?" Bettina said, a bit embarrassed as she silently scolded herself for being so careless.
"You seem to be bleeding as well. Do you want to go to the hospital and get it checked?"
Strasser noticed that Bettina's arm had been cut by the violin string earlier, and blood was seeping out of the wound.
"It's okay, Mr. Gregor, it's just a minor issue, no need to go to the hospital," Bettina quickly said, as she didn't want to trouble Strasser any further.
"Then let me help you apply some medicine," Strasser said as he turned to look for the first aid supplies on the counter in the bedroom.
"Maybe I shouldn't be a third wheel."
Otto felt that he shouldn't have come back today, as he might be interrupting something good for others. However, a strange thought compelled him to stay by the door and listen.
"Oh... ah... it hurts, it hurts."
In the room, Strasser was carefully applying medicine to Bettina, who winced in pain as the ointment touched her wound.
"Hang in there, it will be over soon."
Strasser quickly applied the medicine to Bettina.
"How about we call it a day? You should go home and rest, and come back tomorrow," Strasser suggested.
"Come again tomorrow?"
Otto widened his eyes, "Brother, you really don't know how to cherish a delicate and fragrant flower. How can you do such a thing and only wait one day?"
"It's okay, Mr. Gregor, I can still hold on," Bettina said somewhat defiantly.
"We'll continue."
"Are you sure?"
"If it's Mr. Gregor, a little pain is not a problem." Bettina's expression was inexplicable, as if there was more to her words.
Strasser was somewhat skeptical, but seeing Bettina's stubborn gaze, he helplessly sighed, "Alright, then we continue." Upon hearing this, Otto could no longer hold back; he kicked open the bedroom door. Strasser's bedroom door was a relic from the last century and wasn't very sturdy, so it swung open with one kick.
"Brother! How could you do this! This girl is a first-timer, and you're being so inconsiderate. Do you know that this can cause great harm to Bettina's body?" Otto complained discontentedly.
However, when he entered the bedroom, the scene before him was of the two preparing to continue their secret lesson with a spare violin, causing Otto to abruptly stop his words.
Strasser looked at his brother with some confusion, wondering why he had entered the bedroom without knocking, while Bettina seemed to be in a state of shock.
For a moment, the three of them stood frozen in place, like three silent stone statues on Easter Island. Finally, Strasser decided to break the eerie silence; he couldn't understand why Otto and Bettina were both silent. "Otto, why are you back today? Shouldn't you be working in Ruhr?"
"My work is done. This year, the National Socialist Party's votes in the Ruhr not only did not decrease but actually increased by five percent. This is the result of the hard work that Albrecht and I put in!"
Men's thoughts are always exceptionally erratic. Upon hearing this, Otto immediately perked up, eager to enthusiastically introduce Strasser to his achievements in the Ruhr.
However, at that moment, Bettina, who had just come to her senses, interrupted Otto's lengthy discourse.
"Otto, are you listening to us outside the room?"
Bettina had a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, and at this moment, her delicate face seemed to be filled with a hint of ferocity, which made Otto a little scared.
"Yes, I was eavesdropping outside the door," Otto answered honestly, not daring to lie.
"So how much did you hear?" Bettina still held onto a glimmer of hope.
"I... I heard everything."
The beautiful German woman lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair as she turned her back to Strasser.
"Sorry, Mr. Gregor, I might not be able to continue teaching you today. I need to take a day off."
"Oh? That's fine. You can go back and rest. Take as many days as you need, and come back when you're ready to work," Strasser said without suspicion.
Bettina nodded and stiffly walked out of the room. The moment she closed the door, she screamed and then rushed out of Strasser's villa, wanting nothing more than to quickly change her life in another country.
"What happened to her?"
Hearing the exceptionally clear screams even through the wall, Strasser was puzzled and asked his brother.
"Maybe she misunderstood your conversation just now," Otto offered his interpretation.
"Thinking too much?"
Strasser pondered for a moment, then looked at Otto with a playful expression.
"How do you know Bettina is thinking too much?"
The latter's face froze for a moment, then he forced a smile and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have some unfinished work in Ruhr. I'll go back now and not bother you, brother. Have a pleasant holiday." Otto left without another word, swiftly escaping from the villa. He was going back to find his best friend.
Strasser felt somewhat helpless. "Why are young people today so twisted in their thinking? It's really a sign of declining morals. Forget it, I’ll just call the National Socialist Party headquarters and ask them to send someone to fix my bedroom door."
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